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Sunday, 20 December 2015

Captive Carnivores Discovered At Mexican Pyramid

It surprises me that people are astonished when they read these articles. Humankind has a long history in the way it captures and badly treats or misuses animals. If you know your Mesoamerican history you shouldn't be surprised.

Historically it is interesting as it tells us more about how this civilisation operated. I am just hoping that one day -and it will happen- while I am still alive the archaeologists are going to find remains of animals science does not know about -whether a canid or felid -Onza-like cats?

Now a zoologist ought to really make a long study of the known records for Mesoamerica, pictographs and see what they can find because it is still true that a lot of remains lie hidden in South and Central American museums (as they do in European museums).

Remains Of Captive Carnivores Discovered At Mexican Pyramid

Photo credit:
Pumas, wolves and eagles were raised by the inhabitants of the
ancient city of Teotihuacan, probably for use in sacrificial rituals.
Ricardo David Sánchez via Wikimedia commons

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of the earliest known
captive carnivores in Mesoamerica, after excavating the pyramids at the
ancient city of Teotihuacan
in Mexico. Among the findings were the bones of pumas, eagles and
wolves, many of which displayed markings which probably correspond to
brutal treatment by their human captors.

Remains of almost 200 animals were found in tunnels underneath the famous Moon Pyramid and Sun Pyramid, during excavations carried
out between 1998 and 2004. It is believed that the creatures were
placed there as offerings at various stages of the temples’
construction. As such, they predate all previous evidence for captive
carnivores in the region, such as the famous descriptions of Aztec zoos and breeding programmes provided by early conquistadores and missionaries such as Hernán Cortés and Bernardino de Sahagún.

The latest findings, described in the journal PLOS ONE,
are thought to date back to between 150 and 350 CE, and therefore
suggest that the domestication of these creatures was prevalent more
than 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

The position of the discovered animals, combined with depictions of
pumas and wolves dressed in military regalia while devouring human
hearts, suggests that they were probably involved in sacrificial
ceremonies, and may well have eaten humans who were offered to the gods.
To confirm this, the researchers conducted isotope analysis
on the bones they found. This involves the study of the atoms in
organic remains, focusing particularly on isotopes – atoms with
particular numbers of neutrons in their nuclei – which give clues as to
what the animal may have eaten.Drawings of pumas devouring human hearts suggest that they
may have been involved in sacrificial rituals at Teotihuacan. Credit:
Nawa Sugiyama

Many of the specimens found at Teotihuacan contained high levels of
certain nitrogen isotopes that indicate they probably fed on omnivores
such as humans or dogs. Furthermore, the presence of a carbon isotope
called C4 suggests they ate large amounts of maize, implying that they were raised in captivity rather than in the wild.

Additionally, many of the animals displayed injuries that were
probably inflicted by humans attempting to manipulate them. For
instance, a number of eagles were found with fractures and other lesions
on their legs, probably suffered as a result of being tethered. In
addition, many of the skeletons were found to have been preserved using
techniques resembling taxidermy. From this, the study authors
hypothesize that these animals were probably accidentally killed before
they could participate in ritual sacrifices, and were then stuffed so
that they could still be used in these ceremonies.Eagle remains discovered at Teotihuacan displayed injuries that were probably inflicted by human captors. Credit: Nawa Sugiyama

Adding up all of this evidence, the team concludes that the treatment
of these captive beasts provides an interesting insight into the
challenges involved in ancient Mesoamericans’ “initial experimentation
in manipulating dangerous and specialized carnivores.”